Methods and apparatus for pretreating an atomizer

ABSTRACT

Various embodiments of the subject technology may provide methods and apparatus for pretreating an atomizer. The methods and apparatus for pretreating the atomizer may include applying an aerosol-forming mixture to the atomizer during a first time period. The methods and apparatus for pretreating the atomizer may further include applying a terpene mixture to the atomizer during a second time period.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional PatentApplication Ser. No. 63/221,386, filed on Jul. 13, 2021, andincorporates the disclosure of the application in its entirety byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE TECHNOLOGY State of the Art

“Vape” devices and heat-not-burn (HNB) devices (collectively, the“vaporizer devices”) present an alternative to smoking and work byvaporizing a consumable flower, such as cannabis, tobacco, etc. byheating the flower at a lower temperature than an open flame so that auser can inhale the flower in vapor form, rather than smoke.

A conventional vaporizer device typically has a chamber for holding theflower and a small, heated coil, in contact with the chamber. A currentis typically passed through the coil, heating the chamber and the flowercontained therein. However, the flower contained in the chamber of aconventional vaporizer device is ineffective at producing enough vaporwhen heated. Accordingly, a conventional vaporizer device may beineffective at activating various terpenes found in the flower, therebyfailing to bring out pleasant flavors and aromas of the flower.

Existing systems and methods have attempted various solutions by, forexample, re-engineering the flower, such as by treating it with avariety of humectants, but they have not sufficiently addressed the needof the vaporizer industry owing to their ineffectiveness and complexity.Thus, conventional systems and methods, if implemented, have not beensuccessful in effectively activating various flavors and aromas of theflower.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Various embodiments of the subject technology may provide methods andapparatus for pretreating an atomizer. The methods and apparatus forpretreating the atomizer may comprise applying an aerosol-formingmixture to the atomizer during a first time period. The methods andapparatus for pretreating the atomizer may further comprise applying aterpene mixture to the atomizer during a second time period.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the subject technology may be derivedby referring to the detailed description when considered in connectionwith the following illustrative figures. In the following figures, likereference numbers refer to similar elements and steps throughout thefigures.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a vaporizer system in accordance with anembodiment of the subject technology;

FIG. 2 representatively illustrates an atomizer in accordance with anembodiment of the subject technology; and

FIG. 3 representatively illustrates a flow diagram for pretreating anatomizer in accordance with an embodiment of the subject technology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The subject technology may be described in terms of functional blockcomponents. Such functional blocks may be realized by any number ofcomponents configured to perform the specified functions and achieve thevarious results. For example, the subject technology may employ variousaerosol-forming mixtures, atomizers, batteries, chambers, containers,circuitry, coils, heating elements, inlets, layers, outlets, terpenemixtures, mixtures, solutions, wires, and the like, which may carry outa variety of functions. In addition, the subject technology may bepracticed in conjunction with any number of atomizers, and the atomizerdescribed herein is merely one exemplary application for the technology.

Referring to FIGS. 1-2 , in various embodiments, a vaporizer system 100may comprise an atomizer 105 adapted to be inserted into a housing 111of a “vape” device or heat-not-burn (HNB) device (the “vaporizer device110”). The atomizer 105 may comprise a chamber 115 disposed within theatomizer 105 and a container 118 disposed within the chamber 115. Thecontainer 118 may be configured to hold a vaporizable material, such ascannabis flower, tobacco flower, concentrates, oils, and the like. Theatomizer 105 may also comprise a heating element 120. The heatingelement 120 may be in contact with the chamber 115 and may heat thevaporizable material to a temperature sufficient to vaporize thevaporizable material. The vaporizer system 100 may further comprise abase portion 112 connected to the housing 111 via wires 119, where thebase portion 112 may comprise a control circuit 135 for controllablyoperating the heating element 120 and a battery 140 for supplying powerto various components of the vaporizer system 100.

According to various embodiments, the container 118 may comprise aninterior surface 116 and an exterior surface 117. The container 118 maybe configured to absorb a pre-treated mixture. The container 118 may beconstructed from any suitable porous material, such as cellulose,ceramic, and the like. It will be appreciated that the porous materialmay have any suitable pore size and/or porosity. The pore size and/orporosity may be selected depending on the desired thermal conductivityof the container 118. For example, a container with small-sized poresand a high porosity may have a higher thermal conductivity than acontainer with large-sized pores and a low porosity.

According to various embodiments, the interior surface 116 of thecontainer 118 may be pretreated in an aerosol-forming mixture during afirst time period. The first time period may be between about thirty(30) minutes and about two (2) hours. The aerosol-forming mixture mayfacilitate the formation of steam inside the container 118 by loweringthe boiling point of the vaporizable material. Because the boiling pointof the vaporizable material may be lowered, the vaporizable material maybe less prone to experiencing thermal degradations, i.e., moleculardeterioration as a result of overheating, thereby effectively activatingvarious compounds (e.g., terpenes) within the vaporizable material toprovide improved flavors and aromas.

In one embodiment, the aerosol-forming mixture may comprise water and anaerosol-forming agent. The aerosol-forming agent may comprise vegetableglycerin, propylene glycol, or a combination thereof. The concentrationof the water may be between about 60% and about 70% by weight of theaerosol-forming mixture. The concentration of the aerosol-forming agentmay be between about 25% and about 40% by weight of the aerosol-formingmixture. For example, in the case where the interior surface 116 isconstructed from a 100 milligram (mg) porous cellulose substrate, the100 mg porous cellulose substrate may be pre-treated with anaerosol-forming mixture comprising 40 milligrams of the aerosol-formingagent and 60 milligrams of water.

Because the aerosol-forming mixture may have a higher heat capacity thanthe air inside the chamber 115, the pre-treated container 118 may beeffective in transmitting the heat produced by the heating element 120,in the form of thermal energy, to the vaporizable material containedtherein. Accordingly, the vaporizer device 110 may conserve a greateramount of total energy, thereby allowing a user to utilize the vaporizerdevice 110 many times before having to change or recharge the battery140.

The aerosol-forming mixture may further comprise a carrier-compoundmixture. In one embodiment, the carrier-compound mixture may comprise aterpene mixture. Because terpenes are generally lipophilic and have apropensity to metabolize lipophilic compounds, they may aid ineffectively carrying a variety of lipophilic compounds contained in thevaporizable material to the deep lungs of the user where a highconcentration of such compounds may be rapidly absorbed into the user'sbloodstream, thereby increasing sensations of pleasure. As an example,in the case where the vaporizable material comprises cannabis flower,the lipophilic, cannabinoid-derived compounds of the cannabis flower maycomprise tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), cannabichromene(CBC), and cannabigerol (CBG)).

The terpene mixture may comprise a first terpene, a second terpene, anda third terpene. The first terpene may comprise myrcene, nerolidol, or acombination thereof. The second terpene may comprise limonene, pinene,linalool, terpineol, terpinolene, terpineol, menthol, or a combinationthereof. The third terpene may comprise caryophyllene, borneol, phytol,or a combination thereof. The terpene mixture may, however, comprise avariety of suitable terpenes, such as bisabolol, camphene, camphor,cedrene, cymene, eucalyptol, fenchol, geraniol, geranyl acetate,guaiene, guaiol, humulene, isopulegol, ocimene, phellandrene, pulegone,sabinene, valencene, or any combination thereof.

In one embodiment, the concentration of the first terpene may be about50% by weight of the terpene mixture. The concentration of the secondterpene may be about 40% by weight of the terpene mixture. Theconcentration of the third terpene may be about 10% by weight of theterpene mixture. The concentration of the first terpene, second terpene,and third terpene may be between about 1% and about 5% by weight of thecombined aerosol-forming mixture and terpene mixture.

It will be appreciated that the terpenes may be selected according totheir therapeutic and medicinal properties. For example, myrcene mayprovide a relaxing, sedating, and musky aroma. Limonene may haveanxiolytic and anti-cancer properties and may provide a citrus aroma.Caryophyllene may have certain pain-relieving and anti-inflammatoryproperties, pinene may help protect against ulcers, and ocimene may haveanti-viral and anti-fungal properties. Given that moderate to highconcentrations of CBD may be particularly effective at reducing anxietyand preventing panic attacks, a terpene mixture comprising caryophylleneand/or myrcene that also contains a high concentration of CBD, such asat least 10% by weight, may be particularly effective at reducinganxiety and panic attacks.

The container 118 may be made of biodegradable material and configuredin any suitable manner such that minimal cleaning of the container 118may be required. In addition, in some embodiments, the container 118 maynot be in direct contact with the chamber 115 to eliminate contaminationand prevent the vaporizable material contained inside the container 118from combusting.

In operation, and referring now to FIGS. 1-3 , pre-treating the atomizer105 (300) may comprise applying the aerosol-forming mixture to theatomizer 105 (305). Specifically, the aerosol-forming mixture may beapplied to the interior surface 116 of the container 118 during a firsttime period, where the first time period may be from about thirty (30)minutes to about two (2) hours. In addition, pre-treating the atomizer105 may further comprise applying the terpene mixture to the atomizer105 (310). Specifically, the terpene mixture may be applied to theinterior surface 116 of the container 118 during a second time period.The second time period may immediately follow the first time period, andthe second time period may be from about thirty (30) minutes to abouttwo (2) hours. Once the atomizer 105 is pre-treated, it may be used withthe vaporizer device 110.

The pre-treated atomizer 105 may be inserted into the vaporizer device110, and the vaporizer device 110 may be turned on by a sensor 114 or bypressing a button or switch. For example, in the case where thevaporizer device 110 is “draw-activated”, a user may turn on thevaporizer device 110 by drawing air into the vaporizer device 110 via aninlet 125 of the vaporizer device 110 by inhaling through a mouthpiece(not shown) connected to an outlet 130 of the vaporizer device 110. Whenthe user inhales, a negative pressure may be induced inside thevaporizer device 110. The negative pressure induced inside the vaporizerdevice 110 may cause the sensor 114 to close a pressure switch (notshown), thereby closing a circuit between the battery 140 and thevarious components of the vaporizer device 110. Once the pressure switch(not shown) is closed, the battery 140 may supply power to variouscomponents of the vaporizer device 110, including the heating element120.

Once the heating element 120 is enabled, the battery 140 may supply acurrent to the enabled heating element 120, where the current may flowthrough a coil 121 of the enabled heating element 120. Because the coil121 may be a resistive element, the coil may dissipate heat when thecurrent flows through it. Further, because the heating element 120 maybe in contact with the chamber 115, the resulting heat may betransferred to the chamber 115. Accordingly, the heating element 120 mayvaporize a portion of the vaporizable material by heating the chamber115 to a temperature sufficient to generate the vapor. For example, inthe case of cannabis flower, the flower within the container 118 may beheated to a temperature of approximately 215 to 480° F. to create anaerosolized vapor therefrom.

As shown in FIG. 1 , once the vapor is produced, it may mix with the airdrawn into the atomizer 105 via the inlet 125, and the resulting aerosol(vapor and airflow) may travel as an aerosol stream along the airflowpath A where it may be expelled via the outlet 130 and inhaled throughthe mouthpiece. Because the pre-treated container 118 may have a higherheat capacity than the air inside the chamber 115, the pretreatedcontainer 118 may be effective in transmitting the heat produced by theheating element 120, in the form of thermal energy, to the vaporizablematerial contained therein. Accordingly, the vaporizer device 110 mayconserve a greater amount of energy, thereby allowing a user to use thevaporizer device 110 more often before having to change or recharge thebattery 140.

The particular implementations shown and described are illustrative ofthe technology and its best mode and are not intended to otherwise limitthe scope of the subject technology in any way. Indeed, for the sake ofbrevity, conventional manufacturing, connection, preparation, and otherfunctional aspects of the apparatus may not be described in detail.Furthermore, the connections and points of contact shown in the variousfigures are intended to represent exemplary physical relationshipsbetween the various elements. Many alternative or additional functionalrelationships or physical connections may be present in a practicalsystem.

In the foregoing description, the technology has been described withreference to specific embodiments. Various modifications and changes maybe made, however, without departing from the scope of the subjecttechnology as set forth. The description and figures are to be regardedin an illustrative manner, rather than a restrictive one and all suchmodifications are intended to be included within the scope of thesubject technology. Accordingly, the scope of the technology should bedetermined by the generic embodiments described and their legalequivalents rather than by merely the specific examples described above.For example, the components and/or elements recited in any apparatusembodiment may be combined in a variety of permutations to producesubstantially the same result as the subject technology and areaccordingly not limited to the specific configuration recited in thespecific examples.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed above with regard to particular embodiments. Any benefit,advantage, solution to problems or any element that may cause anyparticular benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or to become morepronounced, however, is not to be construed as a critical, required, oressential feature or component.

The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” or any variation thereof, areintended to reference a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process,method, article, composition, or apparatus that comprises a list ofelements does not include only those elements recited but may alsoinclude other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process,method, article, composition, or apparatus. Other combinations and/ormodifications of the above-described structures, arrangements,applications, proportions, elements, materials, or components used inthe practice of the subject technology, in addition to those notspecifically recited, may be varied, or otherwise particularly adaptedto specific environments, manufacturing specifications, designparameters or other operating requirements without departing from thegeneral principles of the same.

The subject technology has been described above with reference to anembodiment. However, changes and modifications may be made to theembodiment without departing from the scope of the subject technology.These and other changes or modifications are intended to be includedwithin the scope of the subject technology.

1. A method for pretreating an atomizer, comprising: applying anaerosol-forming mixture to the atomizer during a first time period; andapplying a terpene mixture to the atomizer during a second time period.2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second time period immediatelyfollows the first time period, and wherein the first time period and thesecond time period are each between about 30 minutes and about 120minutes.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein: the aerosol-forming mixturecomprises water and an aerosol-forming agent; and the terpene mixturecomprises a first terpene, a second terpene, and a third terpene.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein: the concentration of the first terpene isabout 50% by weight of the terpene mixture; the concentration of thesecond terpene is about 40% by weight of the terpene mixture; and theconcentration of the third terpene is about 10% by weight of the terpenemixture.
 5. The method of claim 3, wherein the concentration of thefirst terpene, second terpene, and third terpene is between about 1% andabout 5% by weight of the combined aerosol-forming mixture and terpenemixture.
 6. The method of claim 3, wherein the aerosol-forming agentcomprises vegetable glycerin, propylene glycol, or a combinationthereof.
 7. The method of claim 3, wherein the first terpene comprisesmyrcene, nerolidol, or a combination thereof.
 8. The method of claim 3,wherein the second terpene comprises limonene, pinene, linalool,terpineol, terpinolene, terpineol, menthol, or a combination thereof. 9.The method of claim 3, wherein the third terpene comprisescaryophyllene, borneol, phytol, or a combination thereof.
 10. Anatomizer for use with a vaporizer device, comprising: a containerconfigured to hold a vaporizable material, wherein the container ispretreated with an aerosol-forming mixture and a terpene mixture; and aheating element configured to apply heat to the container.
 11. Theatomizer of claim 10, wherein: the aerosol-forming mixture compriseswater and an aerosol forming agent; and the terpene mixture comprises afirst terpene, a second terpene, and a third terpene.
 12. The atomizerof claim 11, wherein: the concentration of the first terpene is about50% by weight of the terpene mixture; the concentration of the secondterpene is about 40% by weight of the terpene mixture; and theconcentration of the third terpene is about 10% by weight of the terpenemixture.
 13. The atomizer of claim 11, wherein the concentration of thefirst terpene, second terpene, and third terpene is between about 1% andabout 5% by weight of the combined aerosol-forming mixture and terpenemixture.
 14. The atomizer of claim 11, wherein the first terpenecomprises myrcene, nerolidol, or a combination thereof.
 15. The atomizerof claim 11, wherein the second terpene comprises limonene, pinene,linalool, terpineol, terpinolene, terpineol, menthol, or a combinationthereof.